Eastern Promises

Cronenberg is a twisted individual, but I will give him credit for one thing, he definately takes the movie out of movie violence. I have never been in a brutal knife while steaming in suana, but I imagine it would go a little something like what happened during this movie. There is not sensationalism with Cronenberg he depicts violence as it might actually go down. The violence is brutal and uncontrolled and bloody. His fight scenes are not ten minute choreographed dance numbers, they are knock down drag out, bloody messes that makes the audience cringe and squirm at what they are watching. He does what he does and he does it really well. Cronenberg's graphically violent tendencies aside, which is in now way a knock, Eastern Promises shows western audiences a side to the Russian mafia they have never seen before.


Eastern Promises is the story of a baby, a baby whose mother, a teen-aged prostitute who is raped by the head of the Russian mafia, and than beaten, she later dies at the hospital during child birth. The mother leaves behind a diary that reveals all the terrors she suffered at the hands of the Russian Mafia. The nurse that delivered the baby, Naomi Watts finds the diary and tries to get it translated by taking it back to the very same people that killed the girl. At this restaurant she meets and falls for an undercover agent for Scotland Yard, Viggo Mortensen, posing as a driver trying to make his way up the crime ladder. What follows is a story of how this nurse intent on finding locating this dead girl's family comes to adopt this little child, but getting her father, one of the mafia heads, killed.

It is hard to describe this movie in a few words. There are romantic elements amid splashes of suspense and violence. This movie is a slice out of the lives of the characters we meet on screen. This does not tell a whole story, but rather the turbulent begining of child's life through the lense of her mother's death. We are not entirely sur of what happened before this moment or after all we are given is this breif view into their lives.

In the end it is a good movie, not great because frankly not enough happens for me and I can really do without the naked guy on guy on guy bloody suana brawl. To his credit Viggo does whatever is asked of him and David C. makes movie violence look as close to real thing as possible. Not a must see, but worth a watch for sure.

GRADE - C+